LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…`Can we find anyone like this man, in whom the Spirit of God dwells?’…” (Genesis 41:38, the Holy Bible).

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FILIPINOS’ CONCERN FOR TRUE “GOOD GOVERNANCE”: Pat Sosa Sigue, news editor par excellence both here and abroad, raised a serious concern in a Facebook post Sunday, 03 August 2014, regarding the system or kind of government that the Bible requires for a truly “righteous governance”. This is fast becoming the concern of many thinking Filipinos who are now fed up with too much corruption even among leaders who mouth slogans like “righteous governance”.

Here was Pat’s post, translated from Filipino to English: “A blessed Sunday morning to everyone. What a beautiful and hard-hitting sermon it was from (a) Fr. Gomez in a Healing Eucharist TV mass this morning about an `integral leader’. Of course, there are still a lot of things that needed explaining about man’s attitudes.

“This made me remember a question that had been uppermost in my mind—what kind or system of government does the Bible require which all peoples must obey? It is clear that there is something wrong (in the system that we have now) such that we continue to be divided, impoverished, and incapable of succeeding. I hope someone who studies the Bible can explain this. Amen!”

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TRUE “GOOD GOVERNANCE” IS BIBLE-BASED, NOT JUST SLOGANEERING: From where I sit, it is not really the kind of government that is important. Among people who read the Bible conscientiously, such as the members of the Anak ng Diyos Kadugo Ni Kristo (Children of God Blood Kin of the Christ) Church, it is clear that what the Bible requires for real good governance is the kind of leaders that run the government.

In this column, we have been citing three Biblical passages to support this view, and these passages all indubitably indicate that good governance can come only from leaders who truly have the Spirit of God in them. If leaders of government truly (and not falsely) have the Spirit of God in them, then they would be true to their oath of office, shying away from graft and corruption and any abuse of power.

Leaders of government who do not truly have the Spirit of God in them are those who merely mouth slogans of “good governance”, pretending to listen to, and obey, the Word of God, yet without compunction or remorse do something else, either by themselves, by their relatives, or by their political allies. Sounds familiar? I am sure we all know what—or who—I am referring to.

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LEADERS MUST HAVE THE SPIRIT OF GOD IN THEM: How can we be sure then that leaders of government have the Spirit of God in them? This is easy to do. Let us check, first and foremost, the spiritual background of someone running for government office, especially the highest offices in the land. Do they come from a family who find time to read the Bible, meditate on its verses day and night and obey God’s commands, even when no one is looking?

And I am not referring to any religious affiliation here. What I am referring to is an individual commitment to the Bible as the Word of God, using it not only to impress others, but as a yardstick, a guidepost, or even a measure or standard by which he thinks, speaks, and acts, even in private. A man like this is certain to push the agenda of God in his governance.

This man who lives by the Bible is expected to govern well. For he would be very much aware that it is not the people he would really be serving but God. This man would know deep in his heart that, one day, God will make him stand in judgment, and would either give him eternal bliss in heaven, or an eternal journey with fire and worms, depending on whether he obeyed His commands in the Bible or not.